


Emotion Pills

by CitricJoey



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Illness, Love, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, bad things happen on good weather days, talking about love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-01-14 15:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18479371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CitricJoey/pseuds/CitricJoey
Summary: Alternative title: These Characters Do Almost Nothing But Hey They Have Feelings





	1. Good Weather Days

**Author's Note:**

> I gotta be honest, most of these are just school assignments I typed up, but hey if it gets me typing, it gets me typing.

Tuesday, 29th of April. Dim sunlight poked through the spots of sky that weren’t covered by the thin layer of clouds, a subtle chill blowing through the snowy mountain town. Despite the somewhat late hours of the day, the children of High Parkins were out on the streets, running around with joy as if they were in a candy store. To them, it may as well have been a candy store - the sight of a sliver of sunshine in the sky could get them more hyper than any amount of sugar.

High Parkins was a town of harsh snowstorms and everlasting cold. Doors were locked and windows boarded as snowmen practically built themselves outside, decorating the streets with mounds and mounds of snow and ice. Breaktime at school was spent huddled in the classroom, and free time after school was filled with video games and snacks inside. Driving wasn’t an option, half of the workforce spent their days shovelling snow and making repairs, and fashion consisted of colourful woolly hats and heavy winter coats.

A calm weather day in High Parkins was like a field trip to Heaven.

For most people, anyway. One little girl sat at the desk by her bedroom window, head resting on her hand as she stared silently at the still sky. She wanted to say she was happy. She wanted to be able to run out onto the streets with her friends and just enjoy the good weather day like everybody else. She wanted to at least appreciate the day.

But she just couldn’t.

Instead, she was apprehensive. Good days meant bad events and people leaving her life. It was a trend - the weather would calm down and give the town a break and she would find herself saying goodbye to another person close to her heart, leaving her lonely and unable to simply enjoy the day. Over time, she had learned to expect the worst.

It had started with her mother. To be honest, she hadn’t realised what was happening at the time; all she knew was that her parents used to shout a lot at night, making it hard to sleep sometimes, and then mummy had smiled at her and said she loved her before walking away with a suitcase being lugged behind her. It wasn’t until her brother explained a week later why she hadn’t seen mummy since then that she realised it was a goodbye. She could vaguely remember crying and begging her brother not to leave her too - he had held her close and promised he wasn’t going anywhere, as if he was certain that was a promise he could keep.

A low thud made her jump and she looked out the window to see an older girl she didn’t know waving apologetically at her. Giving out a low sigh, she let her head fall back onto the arm that was rested on her desk.

The next time a calm day rolled around, she was giving her best friend a hug goodbye. Honestly, this time wasn’t as bad - she had known for about two weeks that his father had been offered a job somewhere outside of High Parkins, and that his family was moving away for a life that would be indisputably better. And she was happy for him, truly. But after that good weather day, there was no more fantasy roleplay or weekly game-filled sleepovers, and she didn’t really know how she felt about that.

If she strained her ears, she could hear her father coughing every so often in the kitchen - last time she checked he was sorting through forms and important-looking envelopes that she didn’t really understand. She wished she could help, for her brother’s sake.

She didn’t like to think about her brother. Last good weather day they had been out together, laughing at each other like they always did, although when she looked closely at him, something seemed a bit off. She hadn’t given it much thought, brushing it off as him being tired from grueling studies, and they went through the day as normal - until he fell. After that, all she could remember was a blur of ambulance sirens and panicked kids and someone screaming and crying (maybe that someone was her), and suddenly her brother was cooped up in hospital because of some illness she didn’t know the name of and all she had left was her father.

Every single bone in her body wished she could just enjoy the calm day. Snow could be fun when it wasn’t trying to smash your windows in, after all. But with her mind stuck in her memories and the growing number of glass bottles on the kitchen table, she found that she couldn’t really bring herself to be hopeful about the day.


	2. On the Topic of Falling in Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two friends talk about love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this at 2am and almost caused myself to miss my metro to school the next morning.

“I think I’m in love with him.”

The words are quiet, rushed, like a small stream that just burst past a dam, and Purple glances up in surprise. As they expected, Blue isn’t looking at them, instead staring intently at the cracks in the wall at the edge of her bed, her hands fidgeting where they lay on her lap. For a breath, nothing is said.

What are they supposed to say?

“...Alright,” Purple says awkwardly, shifting from their slouched position against their pillows. They aren’t surprised, per se—everyone had known of the unspoken thing between Blue and Green for a while now—but to hear one of them actually admit to it is something else altogether. Having never been one to deal with problems, Purple finds themself at a loss for what to do. “That...okay.”

“I know that’s not a shocker,” Blue states. “You all called it ages ago. But I just...needed to tell someone, I guess. Out loud.”

“Why me?” Purple can’t help but ask.

“I trust you,” Blue says simply. “And you’re good at coming to, uh, realistic conclusions as to how to handle things. Most of the others would probably tell me to just ask him out.”

Purple resists the urge to say “Why don’t you?” and sighs instead. “I’m not good at dealing with feelings, though. You know I’ve never been in a relationship—I wouldn’t know how to handle it.”

“I still wanna hear what you have to say, though.”

“What do you want me to tell you? What _can_ I tell you, anyway—”

“Have you ever been in love?”

Her question catches Purple off-guard and their voice dies in their throat. The answer is as obvious as the sun in the sky and they know this—for all of their babble about not being good with emotions, this is something they managed to come to terms with long ago. It’s just a matter of saying it out loud.

“...I fell in love once.”

This catches Blue’s attention, and she finally looks at them.

“I didn’t _recognise_ it at first for what it was, but it definitely happened.”

“Who?” Blue asks, only because she can’t help herself.

“You could probably figure it out,” Purple replies. It takes a second but Blue manages to think of one person who it could have been—but that seemed so much like a thing of the past, like it didn’t matter anymore. Had she presumed wrong?

“It was- It was just curiosity at first, y’know?” Purple continues. “A little bit of exploration, attraction to a stranger, that sort of thing. But then at some point, he- it became so much bigger, and then suddenly I noticed him everywhere, physically and in my mind, and I’d strain to listen to his every word, even though I’m not good at listening, and I smiled when he smiled because that’s the kind of control it had over me.”

“Do you know when it started?” Blue asks.

There’s a pause, then, “We were sitting in a field, I was eating chips and he was making daisy chains and one of our friends was struggling to push a bike up a hill, and it just kinda...hit me? It had probably been brewing for ages beforehand, though, knowing me…”

Blue nods, pensive. “What happened next?”

“A whole bunch’a shit, that’s what.” Purple lets out a breath, and now it’s their turn to study the wall. “I just wanted him to be happy, y’know, and if he found that in someone else, then who was I to stop him? It hurt but...as long as he was happy, I was happy.” Blue watches as they cross their arms tight over their chest, subconscious and protective. “But then something kicked off, a whole load of shit went down, and I wasn’t even directly part of it so it never should have affected me but he was mixed right in there, so...after that, I told myself that I needed to move on, that I needed to stop paying so much attention to him, but…”

“But you couldn’t,” Blue breathed, something like fear and understanding sneaking around her chest. “Because you’d…”

Pulling their knees to their chest, Purple sighs. “You never fall out of love, you know,” they say, one hand rubbing half-heartedly across their eyes. “Not really, anyway. You can try to force it, and maybe for a second you’ll succeed, but...that person will never mean the same to you again. Ever.”

“So what you’re saying is, I’m screwed,” Blue states, which finally causes Purple to look over at her again. Their eyes hold a faint hint of shock, and Blue can see the cogs turning in their mind.

“...No, not really,” they settle on saying. “Sure, it hurts, but...everything that happens along the way is worth it, I think. The smiles, the laughs, just having the emotions.” Slowly, Purple uncurls themself, some of the light returning to their eyes. “Every time I fell into a slump, all it took was for him to laugh and suddenly I didn’t feel so bad anymore. Maybe it’s bad to depend on someone like that...but it certainly helps.”

“I mean, sometimes he just pisses me off…” Blue trails off, and Purple lets out a soft chuckle because they know she doesn’t mean it, not when she’s talking about Green.

“I think you’ll be fine,” Purple states.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Even though it might hurt?”

“...I mean, it’s always gonna hurt eventually, isn’t it?” Purple says, the soft smile on their face bittersweet. “May as well make the most of the high whilst you’re on it.”

Blue smiles back. “...You’re really good with words, you know.”

“Whatever you say.”


	3. Log #45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two aliens are out on a mission to explore a solar system and send back the reports.

Low beeps drifted through the pod, the scanner searching and relaying information about the area. Ethryxn kept a steady hold on the control panel, their gaze locked on the view outside of the craft with a twinkle in their eye, as if they hadn’t seen anything like this before. From where they lounged beside them, Pt’iocha watched unimpressed—the pair of them had done this many times already, and had experienced even more before they were paired together.

With a flick of a switch, the pod glided to a stop, overlooking another system.

“This one’s nice,” Ethryxn commented. “One of the smaller ones.” They pressed a button then, speaking into the built-in pod mic just like everyone who did these missions was taught to do. “Log 45 from Pod Kynntra-Minus. We have reached system code 4d-57-61-79 with no trouble. From here until the end of the log we will record our vocal observations as the scanner feeds back images to go with our claims.”

Pt’iocha leaned forward then, serious and back in business. “There appears to be only one star in this system and it is smaller than what we usually find, being thirty-two times smaller than our own according to the readings from our scanner. There are ten main orbitals, nine if you don’t count the smallest one with the farthest planet being almost unnoticeable due to its distance from the star, and there is a belt of asteroids between the fourth and fifth orbital.”

“No signs of life just yet,” Ethryxn said, slowly guiding the pod forwards. They watched the readings carefully as they drove, looking for any changes at all—hopefully this wasn’t an empty system, as the last two missions had been. When the screen blipped, they gasped. “Oh, never mind there’s- uh, not a life-form, but some kind of advanced tech in the fifth item’s orbit. That means there’s life somewhere, right? Or there at least was?”

“The fifth item is the largest orbital in the system,” Pt’iocha droned on, and Ethryxn wilted at the formality of it all. “It has 68 orbitals of its own, and our scanner has picked up that at least one of them is made of advanced technology rather than being natural. I suspect there may be a couple more.”

“What’s it doing?” Ethryxn asked, mostly to themself, as they watched the unnatural orbital through the scanner’s camera. “Is it…should it be doing something?”

“It’s dormant,” Pt’iocha said, observing the orbital through a diligent gaze. “Although by the looks of it…it was designed to capture images and send them to another orbital.”

“Which one?”

“It’s not clear, but I think it’s one nearer to the system’s star.”

“Then let’s keep going,” Ethryxn decided, pushing the pod on towards the star. The gap between the fifth and fourth orbital took some time to cross, and while Ethryxn gently navigated the pod through the belt of asteroids, Pt’iocha sat back and thought.

“Didn’t we pass something like that unnatural orbital on our way to this system?” they asked. “The scanner picked it up, it seemed to be heading towards another star…”

“In the opposite direction, yeah,” Ethryxn said. “But it was really far from this system, so you said it wasn’t relevant. And yet we’ve found a very similar piece of technology here…”

A couple moments passed in silence.

“There was life here, definitely,” Pt’iocha concluded. “And those life-forms were intelligent, too, if they managed to send technology outside their home system. Perhaps they came close to interstellar travel?”

“You speak like there isn’t any life left,” Ethryxn pointed out. “Just because we haven’t seen any yet, doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

“Well, yes, but…you’d think that we would have picked up on some signals if there was anything.”

They got to the fourth orbital then, this one made of solid red rock and much smaller than the gas giant they had just seen. Immediately, the scanner picked up on something.

“There’s another one! Another piece of technology!” Ethryxn read the scanner with glee. “…Although it’s not in orbit. Do you think…?”

“It’s a rover,” Pt’iocha said. “Again, probably not from this orbital, as there is nothing else of interest here, and it seems to be observing the ground.” Neither of them could actually see the rover on the orbital’s surface, given their distance from it, but they both watched as the little piece of tech moved across the scanner doing its thing.

“We’re picking up sound signals,” Ethryxn claimed, brushing at the blinking light on the scanner screen. “Should I—”

“Yes, send them through, of course.”

With the flick of a switch, the pod was filled with various different tones, coming one after the other in a succession of robotic notes. There were gaps, differing lengths and pitches, and it held no meaning to the two in the pod, but overall it sounded quite tuneful.

“How curious,” Pt’iocha said, reaching over to cut off the sound transfer. “I’m not sure what purpose that serves, but it’s rather pleasant nonetheless. Whatever created these pieces of technology were definitely intelligent and complex creatures. Let’s move on.”

Ethryxn nodded, continuing to move the pod towards the star while humming the rover’s tune quietly to themself.

It took a bit of manoeuvring around the star to find the next orbital, given the nature of orbits, but they knew when they were drawing near long before they ever saw it, as the scanner started going off like crazy.

“I think,” Pt’iocha started, reaching over Ethryxn to manage the control panel, “That we’ve found the main active orbital of this system.”

This orbital’s surface was blue, a much different colour to the two they’d stopped by before, and the readings on the scanner showed that the surface was mostly made of liquid. There were some patches of land dotted within the oceans, a bit of green and brown drowning in blue, but without the scanner it didn’t look like there was much to see. 

“Active?”

“We’ve been over this—”

“I know, I know, I just…it’s not exactly the most accurate name, a lot of the time, is it? I can’t see anything.”

“Turn up the scanner.”

Ethryxn turned a dial, watching the readings on the scanner expand and peak like fast-growing mountains. Miniscule flashing dots appeared on the screen—signs of simple life-forms being present, but nothing major enough to explain why this was the main orbital, and definitely nothing intelligent enough to make the technology they had passed. The actual _presence_ of life was probably enough reason to label this one as the main active orbital, given how no actual life had been picked up on other orbitals, but from the scanner readings the truth was clear.

They had found another system whose inhabitants had destroyed themselves.

“It’s another crashed scenario,” Pt’iocha said, traces of disappointment in their voice. Watching the scanner, they could make out shapes beneath the liquid; structures and patterns showed signs of past civilisation, although no life was there to show for it.

“At least there’s _some_ life though,” Ethryxn pointed out. “That’s a good thing…right?”

“…Let’s just go.”

“What?”

“There’s nothing else for us to see, come on.”

Ethryxn looked back at the orbital and the rock that danced around it, accompanied by more examples of the tech they noticed around the system, before reluctantly turning off the scanner and guiding the pod away. The two of them sat in relative silence for some time before Ethryxn sighed, stopping the log recording and turning to face Pt’iocha, who was adamantly avoiding their gaze.

“You know there’s still hope for this system, right?” they tried, watching their friend huff.

“I just don’t know why they do it. Surely they…how could you not be aware that you’re making your planet uninhabitable? You saw the readings, it was much warmer than it could have been naturally, and way too hot for any species that could possibly develop on that orbital. They could have paved their way to greatness, but…” Pt’iocha glanced at Ethryxn for a moment, then stared out the window. “Instead they chose destruction. And they’re gone now.”

More silence passed, Ethryxn mulling over everything that Pt’iocha had just spit out at them as the pod travelled out of the system. Their friend was upset, that much was clear, and they had become privy to a side of Pt’iocha that never seemed to come out—a side that they didn’t want to see.

“…Well,” Ethryxn started, trying not to deflate when Pt’iocha didn’t make any move to acknowledge them. “Think about it. Since the two of us started these missions together, how many crashed scenarios have been reported back to base?”

Pt’iocha shrugged half-heartedly. “Eleven?”

“And out of those eleven, eight of them had traces of life leftover. Then there have been missions back to six of those systems, and you know what they found?”

“Humour me.”

“They were thriving!” Ethryxn grinned, thinking of every time the logs came back with the good news. Everyone at base was ecstatic. “Every single one of them, evolved into civilisation as if they had never been dead in the first place. You just need that spark.” Pt’iocha sighed, knowing Ethryxn was right. “So we’ll return to this system later, or maybe someone else will, and it won’t be dead, I’m telling you.”

“Yeah, but…it won’t be the same.” Finally, Pt’iocha turned to Ethryxn. “The planet and the system will be thriving, sure, but whatever species had developed there will never be seen again. Ever. Don’t you think that’s just a bit sad?”

“Is that what you’re so upset about?”

Silence met that question, a sign that Pt’iocha was not going to answer, and Ethryxn decided to continue. “I can’t…well, there’s nothing we can do to fix that, I suppose. What’s gone is gone. But maybe, you know, the new species will be better. They can learn how to keep what they have safe, they won’t lead themselves to destruction, you know? I think they can learn.”

“You think?”

“Well…you just gotta hope so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be posted on its own just because I really like this one


End file.
